Other Versions of this Movie

The Private Life of Henry VIII.

The film follows the private life of the infamous 16th century British monarch, King Henry the VIII, and his misadventures in his various marriages. Henry the VIII is wonderfully portrayed by the highly talented and entertaining Charles Laughton, a masterful one-of-a-kind character actor who managed to land many plum roles despite looking like a bloated fish. Laughton portrays the King as a rollicking, impetuous, boozing lover of women. A man equal parts charming, childish and dangerous. The best part of the movie is when he tries to explain how to make babys to his 4th wife Anne of Cleves (Elsa Lanchester, Laughton´s wife)ending up playing cards on the marriage bed.

The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 Cinema of the United Kingdom historical film comedy film directed by Hungarian Director-Producer Alexander Korda and starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon and Elsa Lanchester. The film focuses on the reign of Henry VIII of England, King of England, and his various marriages. It was written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis for London Film Productions. The film was a major international success, establishing Korda as a leading filmmaker and Laughton as a box office star.

Plot

The film takes place 20 years into King Henry's rule. In May 1536, immediately following the execution of his second wife, Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon), King Henry VIII of England (Charles Laughton) marries Queen Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie), who dies in childbirth eighteen months later. He then weds a German princess, Anne of Cleves (played by Laughton's real-life wife Elsa Lanchester). This marriage ends in divorce when Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so she can be free to marry her sweetheart. (In an imaginative and high-spirited scene, Anne "wins her freedom" from Henry in a game of cards on their wedding night). After this divorce, Henry marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Catherine Howard (Binnie Barnes). She has rejected love all her life in favour of ambition, but after her marriage, she falls in love with Henry's handsome courtier Thomas Culpeper (Robert Donat). Their liaison is discovered by Henry's advisers and the couple are executed. The weak and ageing Henry consoles himself with a final marriage to Catherine Parr (Everley Gregg), who survives her husband.

Cast

Charles Laughton as Henry VIII of England

Merle Oberon as Anne Boleyn

Wendy Barrie as Jane Seymour

Elsa Lanchester as Anne of Cleves

Binnie Barnes as Catherine Howard

Robert Donat as Thomas Culpeper

Franklin Dyall as Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex

Miles Mander as Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton

Laurence Hanray as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

William Austin (actor) as John III, Duke of Cleves

John Loder (actor) as Thomas Peynell

Everley Gregg as Catherine Parr

Helen Maud Holt as The King's Nurse

John Turnbull (actor) as Hans Holbein

Frederick Culley as Duke of Norfolk

William Heughan as Kingston

Judy Kelly as Lady Rochford

Hay Petrie as The King's Barber

Wally Patch as Butcher

Arthur Howard as Kitchen Helper

Annie Esmond as Cook's Wife

Claude Allister as Cornell

File:The Private Life of Henry VIII. 1933.jpg

Production

Alexander Korda was looking for a film to star Charles Laughton and his wife, Elsa Lanchester. Several stories of the film's genesis were from a resemblance between a statue of Henry VIII and Laughton, a cabby singing the music hall song "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am", and a discussion on a set of one of his previous films. Originally, the story was to focus solely on the marriage of King Henry VIII and his fourth wife Anne of Cleves, but as the project grew, the story was re-modified to focus on five of Henry's six wives. Only the first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was omitted because they had no particular interest, described later as a "respectable lady," as denoted in the film.

Reception

=Box office=

It was hugely successful as a commercial film. It made Alexander Korda a premier figure in the film industry at the time; United Artists signed Korda for 16 films. It also advanced the careers of Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, and Merle Oberon. It was also Oberon's first major film role. Laughton would later reprise the same role in 1953 in the film Young Bess, opposite Jean Simmons as his daughter, Elizabeth I of England.
It was the 12th most successful film at the US box office in 1933.<></> The film premiered to record-breaking crowds at New York's Radio City Music Hall and London's Leicester Square Theatre one week later. It earned £500,000 on its first release.

=Awards=

Charles Laughton won the 1933 Academy Award as Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Henry. The film was the first British production to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Laughton was also voted Best Actor in a British film by readers of Film Weekly.<></>